My
Luggage Was Then Carried For A Short Distance, And After Travelling
Through Some Bamboo Thickets And Crossing A Rocky Stream, I Beheld My
Future Abode.
It was a small grass-thatched hut, with a flooring of
split bamboo, raised four feet from the ground; up to this we had to
climb by means of a single bamboo step.
About two-thirds of the hut
consisted of a flooring of bamboo, fairly open on all sides but one;
this part did as my bedroom, and to get to it I had to crawl through
a hole - one could hardly call it a door! It was quite dark inside,
but there was just room enough to lie down on the split bamboo
floor. All round the hut was a large clearing, planted with maize,
belonging to a Filipino, who from time to time lived in another small
hut about one hundred yards away. He also owned the one I was living
in, and for this I paid him the not very exorbitant sum of one peso
(two shillings) a month. Tall gaunt trees rose out of the corn on all
sides, and in the early morning they were full of bird-life - parrots,
parakeets, cockatoos, pigeons, woodpeckers, gapers and hornbills,
etc. A clear rocky stream flowed by the side of the hut, the sound of
whose rushing waters by night and day was like music to the ear in this
hot and thirsty land, whilst shaded as it was by bamboos and trees,
it was a delightful spot to bathe in every morning and evening. I was
well pleased with my surroundings, and looked forward to a successful
and interesting stay. I fared well though the food was rough, and I
subsisted chiefly on rice and papayas, together with pigeons, doves,
parrots, and the smaller hornbill, called here "talactic," all of which
fell to my gun. The surrounding country in these lower mountains was
a mixture of forest and open grass-country, the grass often growing
far over my head. The forest, which abounded in clear, rocky streams
of cold water, was very luxuriant and beautiful, especially in many
of the cool, damp ravines further back in the mountains. But near my
camping ground a great deal of the forest seemed to be half smothered
with large thickets of bamboo, and consequently the larger trees
were rather far apart. There was also a climbing variety of bamboo,
which scrambled up to the tops of the largest trees. The undergrowth
in places was most luxuriant and consisted of different species of
palms, rattans, tree-ferns, PANDANUS, giant ginger, PIPERS, POTHOS,
BEGONIAS, bananas, CALADIUMS, ferns, SELAGINELLAS and lycopodiums,
and many variegated plants. Growing on many of the trees were some
fine orchids. Chief amongst them may be mentioned a very beautiful
"vanda," which grew mostly on trees in the open grass country, and
which I witnessed in full bloom during my stay here. They presented
a wonderful sight. Out of the large sheaths of fan-like leaves grew
two grand flower-spikes, bearing from thirty to forty large white,
chocolate and crimson flowers.
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